There was no escape from irate supporters for England’s players even in the
sanctuary of their team hotel after the Grand Slam humiliation at the hands
of Wales on Saturday.

The players decided not to go clubbing in Cardiff to avoid gloating Wales supporters celebrating the 30-3 win that secured the Six Nations Championship and dashed England’s hopes of a first Grand Slam in 10 years.

However, a group of players got in to an argument with a disgruntled English fan who accused them of being arrogant and not caring about their performance.

“On Saturday night as a squad we were going to go out to a club but we made the decision the way the Welsh were at the game it was probably just going to be bad news so we didn’t,” said England lock Geoff Parling.

“We all went back to the hotel. A few lads went to bed but a few of us, mainly Leicester lads, were chilling out, sitting round with our wives and partners quietly drinking and there was an English woman there with an English boyfriend, she had Welsh parents or whatever.

“She was chatting and you could overhear her saying: ‘Look at them, look at how arrogant they are they just don’t care, I’ve paid good money for a ticket.' We ended up in a sort of an argument where they just wouldn’t leave us alone. I struggled to comprehend her attitude after a game like that and this was from an English person as well.

“When you’ve been away for eight weeks and you haven’t seen much of your wives and partners and you have just been absolutely humiliated and embarrassed all you want to do is just quietly have a drink. No one was p-----, no one was in good spirits, there was just no need for it.”

Parling’s look of dejection at the final whistle revealed just how much the defeat hurt him although the disappointment has been softened a little by a return to home comforts in Leicester having spent seven nights in his own bed in the last eight weeks.

“It’s good to be home again, I’ve not seen my lad for quite a while. It’s good to be able to sleep in the same bed again and back to reality,” he said. “From not doing any cooking, cleaning and laundry to changing nappies and actually making the bed and things like that.

“It would have been nice to finish being away on a high note. It wasn’t easy to take because it was a missed opportunity and opportunities like that don’t come round very often.

“You could see from my face at the end of the game how gutted I looked. But you’ve got to move on to the next game and make sure that when you get those opportunities again that you take them.”

Parling is set to make his first appearance for Leicester in two months against Exeter at Sandy Park on Saturday evening alongside six more players who suffered in Cardiff.

“It’s easier to move on because you come back in here [Leicester]. But you have to move on because you have to dedicate yourself to here,” said hooker Tom Youngs.

“You watch the game back on the Sunday and delete it off your Sky box. You carry on, you get in here on Monday and you speak to Cockers [Leicester director of rugby Richard Cockerill] and you are ready for the weekend.”